In honor of National Punctuation Day, September 24, 2010, a punctuation question will be posted on Legal University at Bank of America each day during the week of September 20. Three winners will be chosen randomly each day from all the correct answers, and they will receive a prize. Good luck!

Your Grammar Team,
Marie Gayed and Karen Nelson

Question for Monday, September 20

The sitcom “Seinfeld” addressed punctuation during Season 5 (1993). Elaine broke up with Jake because of the punctuation mark he used on a phone message. Which punctuation mark did Elaine think he should have used?

In “The Sniffing Accountant” from the fall of 1993, Elaine felt that Jake should have used an exclamation point rather than a period to relay the phone message that her friend had just had her baby. As the discussion wore on, he did finally use an exclamation point when he said, “I’m leaving!”

Question for Tuesday, September 21

Review the Bank’s Grammar Guidelines to answer the question.

According to the Grammar Guidelines, which punctuation mark should be avoided?

Victor Borge created a TV and nightclub act called “Phonetic Punctuation” in which he told a story with onomatopoeic sounds and hand gestures for every punctuation mark. His question mark was particularly dramatic. Watch it on YouTube.

Known as “The Clown Prince of Denmark,” Victor Borge was a comedian, conductor and concert pianist. He fled to the United States at the start of World War II. He learned English by watching movies and quickly became a popular entertainer.

Question for Thursday, September 23

Review the “11 Rules of Writing” from Junket Studies. How many of these rules deal with punctuation?

Six of the “11 Rules of Writing” relate to punctuation. Rules 1 through 6 cover proper punctuation.

To join two independent clauses, use a comma followed by a conjunction, a semicolon alone, or a semicolon followed by a sentence modifier.

Use commas to bracket nonrestrictive phrases, which are not essential to the sentence's meaning.

Do not use commas to bracket phrases that are essential to a sentence’s meaning.

When beginning a sentence with an introductory phrase or an introductory (dependent) clause, include a comma.

To indicate possession, end a singular noun with an apostrophe followed by an “s.” Otherwise, the noun’s form seems plural.

Use proper punctuation to integrate a quotation into a sentence. If the introductory material is an independent clause, add the quotation after a colon. If the introductory material ends in “thinks,” “saying,” or some other verb indicating expression, use a comma.

The correct sentence is (5). The other sentences have errors with apostrophes or the lack thereof.

Apostrophes are used to form contractions and to form possessives. However, apostrophes are not used in possessive pronouns such as its, hers, theirs, whose, ours.

2009 Contest

In honor of National Punctuation Day, September 24, 2009, a punctuation question will be posted on Legal University at Bank of America each day during the week of September 14. Three winners will be chosen randomly each day from all the correct answers, and they will receive a prize. Good luck!

Your Grammar Team,
Marie Gayed and Karen Nelson

Question for Monday, September 14

Who said, “A kiss can be a comma, a question mark or an exclamation point”?

Mistinguett said, “A kiss can be a comma, a question mark or an exclamation point.”

Born as Jeanne Bourgeois on April 5, 1875, Mistinguett was a French actress and singer and a popular entertainer. She lived in France until her death on January 5, 1956. Her legs were insured in 1919 for 500,000 francs. Mistinguett’s signature song was “Mon Homme,” which Fanny Brice sang as “My Man,” and which is still popular in jazz circles.

Question for Tuesday, September 15

Who wrote “The Dictaphone Bard,” and on what poem is it based? (Note: Two answers are needed.)

The apostrophe is used to form contractions (can’t, I’m) and possessives (Jim’s, Maria’s) An apostrophe is not used to form a plural except in a few cases, such as with numerals or individual letters.

The Apostrophe Protection Society was formed in Great Britain in 2001 by John Richards and his son, Stephen, to address the misuse of apostrophes. They continue to deliver form letters explaining the correct use of the apostrophe to any business with an offending sign or publication, and they politely suggest that the business correct the error.

Not to be outdone, Australia’s Apostrophe Man was an imaginary character fighting apostrophe abuse in the Sydney Morning Herald’s “Column 8” until 2004. Read more about the Apostrophe Man.

Sentence (2) “Please copy John, Mary, Cindy, and Sam on the memo” is an example of the Oxford comma.

The Oxford comma is more commonly known as the serial comma. It is the comma used immediately before the conjunction in a series of three or more items. In (2) the Oxford comma is the comma between Cindy and and.

In the Legal Department, we often omit the Oxford comma. This practice would result in “Please copy John, Mary, Cindy and Sam on the memo.” The decision on whether or not to use an Oxford comma is based on style preferences; however, be consistent throughout your document.

Question for Friday, September 18

Which of the following are correct uses of the hyphen?

Use a hyphen in all compound numbers from twenty-one through ninety-nine.

Use a hyphen with all spelled-out fractions, such as one-third, three-fourths, and five-eighths.

Use a hyphen with the prefix ex, as in ex-boyfriend or ex-president.

Use a hyphen with family terms, such as brother-in-law and grand-mother.